Persistent Disparity in Prevalence of Current Cigarette Smoking Between US Adolescents With vs. Without a Past-Year Major Depressive Episode

Abstract

Using data from annual (2004–2010) cross-sectional surveys of nationally representative samples, the prevalence rate of current (i.e., past 30 days) cigarette smoking among US adolescents age 12–17 years was twice as high for those with vs. without a past-year major depressive episode (PYMDE) (22 vs. 11 % in the 2004 survey and 16 vs. 8 % in the 2010 survey). The proportion of all US adolescent current smokers who had a PYMDE was about 24 % for females; 70–80 % of all smokers with PYMDE were females. The persistently higher smoking rates in US adolescents with vs. without PYMDE emphasizes the need for interventions.

Notes

Acknowledgments

The original collector of the data, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social. Research (ICPSR), and the funding agency (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration), bear no responsibility for the use of the data or for interpretations or inferences based upon such uses of the Data Archive (SAMHDA) available from ICPSR.

CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). (2012). Current tobacco use among middle and high school students—United States, 2011. MMWR Morbity & Mortality Weekly Reports 61, 581–585.Google Scholar